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RCR Nationwide Series Event Perview: DRIVE4COPD 300

Event Preview Fact Sheets

Event/Date:
DRIVE4COPD
February 23, 2013

RCR's NASCAR Nationwide Series History at Daytona ... In 49 previous NASCAR Nationwide Series appearances at Daytona International Speedway, RCR has four wins at the famed restrictor-plate track, including victories in July 2010 and Feb. 2002 with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., a win with Clint Bowyer in July 2009 and Kevin Harvick in Feb. 2007. RCR has 24 top-five and 34 top-10 finishes at Daytona International Speedway, along with two poles (Bowyer in July 2009 and Harvick in July 2005).

Averages ... RCR boasts an average starting position of 10.3 and a 10th-place average finishing position among all Nationwide Series races the organization has contested at DIS. RCR drivers have completed 98.9 percent of the laps attempted at the 2.5-mile speedway (5,419 of 5,479 laps), with 461 laps led.

RCR in the NNS ... In 867 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts over the course of the last 15 years, Richard Childress Racing has earned 64 wins, 297 top-five finishes, 488 top-10 finishes and 42 pole awards, with an average starting position of 12.2 and an average finishing position of 12.8 among all races contested. RCR earned the Nationwide Series driver points championships in 2001 and 2006 with Harvick and in 2008 with Clint Bowyer. The Welcome, N.C.-based team earned the owner's title in 2003 with Johnny Sauter and Harvick and again in 2007 with Burton and Scott Wimmer.

The Starting Line-up ... New to the RCR lineup, Brian Scott (No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet) joins 2012 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon (No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet) in competing fulltime for RCR in the Nationwide Series this season. Tony Stewart is driving the No. 33 Oreo 100th Birthday/Ritz Crackers Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

Sporty New Look ... The RCR Nationwide Chevrolets will have an all new skin at Daytona International Speedway as the Camaro, the top-selling sports car in America, makes its series debut in the DRIVE4COPD 300. The Camaro Nationwide race car incorporates many of the distinctive styling elements of the production Camaro, including the unique power-bulge hood, deep recessed grille, distinctive halo light rings, dual-port grille appearances and the gold bowtie.

Catch the Action ... Flag-to-flag coverage of the Drive 4COPD 300 will be televised on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, Feb. 23 and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

This Week's Shore Lodge Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway... Scott will pilot a brand new chassis from the Richard Childress Racing Nationwide Series stable for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300.

Welcome To the Team Brian Scott... Brian Scott joins RCR and will climb into the driver's seat of the No. 2 Shore Lodge Camaro this Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. The Boise, Idaho native enters his fourth year of Nationwide Series competition with 109 series starts under his belt, one pole, five top-five and 23 top-10 finishes.

Daytona History... The 25-year-old driver has six previous starts at "The World Center of Racing". His best start of ninth came in the July 2012 event. He scored his best finish of 12th in the July 2011 event. Additionally, he has two Truck Series starts to his credit, finishing ninth in the series' 2008 event.

Welcome Aboard Shore Lodge... Shore Lodge will serve as primary sponsor for Scott and the No. 2 team in 2013. Set on the southern shore of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho, four seasons of adventure await at this idyllic location. A family favorite since 1948, the travel destination allows guests to enjoy the spectacular views, friendly service and generous accommodations at the lake front resort. Shore Lodge serves as the perfect mixture of adventure and luxury featuring 26 spa adventures, fitness studio, golf privileges at Whitetail Club, jet skiing, and a private beach for guests.

Gould's Turn on Top the Box ...10-year veteran RCR crew member, Phil Gould, will take over crew chief duties for the No. 2 Shore Lodge team in 2013. The Kendall Park, N.J native, spent the 2012 season as car chief for the No. 2 Nationwide Series team, which ended the season runner up in the series' point standings. Gould also served as car chief for Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Cup crew earning notable victories at Daytona International Speedway and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600.

No. 2 in the Nationwide Series... For more than a decade the No. 2 has appeared on Nationwide Series entry lists earning championships, wins, pole awards with veterans and future Sprint Cup stars behind the wheel. Kevin Harvick first piloted the No. 2 Chevy in his NNS debut in a single race in 1999. Harvick earned Rookie of the Year honors and won three events in his first full season of competition in 2000, following up his rookie season by winning the 2001 series championship. Another young driver, Clint Bowyer, took the reins in 2005 for the next three years bringing RCR its second Nationwide Series title. Other drivers who have climbed aboard the No. 2 have included Austin Dillon, Sean Caisse, Ron Hornaday, Johnny Sauter, Kenny Wallace and Elliot Sadler. Everyone who has competed in full-time Nationwide Series seasons have found their way to victory lane during their time in the No. 2 Chevrolet. No. 2 has visited victory lane 21 times over the years while earning 19 pole awards.

BRIAN SCOTT QUOTES:
What's your immediate focus in 2013 with the new team?"Our immediate forcus is to be consistent, finish races. We want to make it through Daytona (International Speedway) with a top five or top-10 finish. It seems so often that teams who don't get off to a good start have trouble climbing out of a hole, especially if you start off with a bad race. If we can get through the first five races and are right there in the top five in points that would be a huge success."

Thoughts on driving the new Camaro?
"It's awesome to drive a name plate like the Camaro; it's such an iconic muscle car in American history. My parents were always huge Camaro fans growing up, so they're excited that I get to drive a Camaro. It's a great to be a part of anything new in NASCAR, to be a part of the Camaro coming into the Nationwide Series is a real honor."

This Week's AdvoCare Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway ... Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 121 in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. This is a new addition to the RCR fleet that will be utilized for the first time this weekend.

Dillon at Daytona ... Dillon has two previous Nationwide Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, finishing fifth in February 2012 and fourth in July 2012. He also has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the track with a best finish of 20th in 2011.

Dirt Tracking and Double Duty ... Dillon's 2013 Speedweeks actually started on Feb. 12 at Volusia Speedway Park, where he and his brother, Ty, began a week-long stint racing dirt Modifieds as part of the 41st annual University of Northwestern Ohio DIRTCar Nationals. He is also pulling double duty at Daytona International Speedway, where he is attempting to make his career first Daytona 500 start in the No. 33 Honey Nut Cheerios Chevrolet. Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is live on FOX beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

Spark your Engines ... Dillon and the RCR team will sport the colors of award-winning premier health and wellness company AdvoCare on the No. 3 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway. AdvoCare offers nutrition, weight loss, energy and sports performance products of the highest quality developed through comprehensive research and backed by a Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Dillon trains with AdvoCare products throughout the week and is a distributor as well. For more information about Dillon's favorite products, including Spark, Rehydrate, meal replacement bars and Post-Workout Recovery, visit http://www.AdvoCare.com.

Need for Speed ... Dillon is scheduled to spend Tuesday, Feb. 19 with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds team, where a portion of the day will be spent flying in an F-16 fighter jet with America's Ambassadors in Blue. Dillon has been a long time aficionado of the movie Top Gun and has a series of "Maverick" themed helmets that he races with. A replica of his original Maverick, which he wore when he won the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship, can be purchased at http://www.rcrstore.com.

Meet Dillon ... Dillon is scheduled to make an appearance at the Chevrolet Stage at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. ET. This season, the Chevrolet Display includes a No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet Camaro show car.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
Is it a competitive benefit to you to run both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway because you get more track time?"I think it's helpful. By running the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday, I can gather good information that I can use on Sunday, especially as it relates to pit strategies and drafting. It's good to be out there drafting and gaining experience and learning how people drive and run around in the pack. Anytime you can see how people make a move to gain positions it's nice because you can see how people do that and try to learn from that."

Have you had a chance to drive the new Camaro and have you noticed much of a difference in the new race car?
"It's a faster car. It's a little bit of a different feel out there but not much. I think the overall balance may be a little bit better, so that's a good thing, actually. Because it's faster it's going to be very helpful to go out and race against all of these other competitors."

This Week's Ritz Crackers/Oreo Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway ... Tony Stewart will pilot Chassis No.123 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Nationwide Series stable in the DRIVE4COPD 300. This Chevrolet will run its first competitive laps during the 2013 season opener.

Proven winner ... Stewart will make his 14th-career Nationwide Series start at the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based facility during the DRIVE4COPD 300. Since 2006, the Columbus, Ind., native has held the hardware in Victory Lane on six occasions (February '05,'06, '08-'11). Stewart has also collected seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes with 206 laps led.

In-Race Reporter ... Stewart will be the ESPN in-race reporter for Saturday afternoon's 120-lap event. Rear-tire carrier Brad Robison will also wear a crew cam during the race to give fans a birds-eye view of a live pit stop.

The Ritz Cracker, a Lucky Token? ... Stewart will attempt to claim his seventh Nationwide Series victory in the annual season opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Riding shotgun with Stewart will be Nabisco's Ritz Cracker brand, which coincidentally has seven holes in each cracker. In 2010, the buttery-tasting snack was the primary sponsor when Stewart drove to Victory Lane after winning his fourth-consecutive Nationwide Series season-opening event.

2012 Race Rewind ... Stewart was poised to notch his fifth-straight win in the 2012 season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, but a last-lap crash while vying for the lead forced him to limp the No. 33 Oreo 100th Birthday/Ritz Crackers Chevrolet across the finish line in eighth place.

TONY STEWART QUOTES:
You have the opportunity to tie Dale Earnhardt for the most wins in the Nationwide Series at Daytona with seven. How special would that be for you?
"It's cool just to be even close to him. Whether we ever get another win and catch his mark or even surpass him, that's still a record that's pretty remarkable here at Daytona. That's a pretty cool feeling to know we've closed in on something he's done here. To me, this was his playground. You just watched him play with the guys here. He was the best at this place. To even be remotely close to him in the record books, in anything here at Daytona, is very humbling."

You've won the season-opening Nationwide Series race six times. How nice is it to start the year with a win, and how much confidence does it give you going into the Daytona 500?"The good thing is I'm probably the happiest guy going into the Daytona 500 if we get a win on Saturday. It shows that we can win, and it's just a matter of whether the cards play out for you on Sunday. It's always a bonus when you can win on Saturday before going into the biggest race of the year on Sunday. Getting a Nationwide win there, that's how you like to go to bed the night before the Daytona 500, knowing that you've got that trophy sitting out there on your desk from what you did Saturday afternoon."